Scotland manager Gordon Strachan believes the Old Firm clubs will be part of a
European super league in 10 years' time.

Strachan, who also said he does not have the players of the necessary "intelligence or physique" to fulfil his vision, is convinced the day when Celtic and Rangers break away from Scottish domestic football is not too distant.

But he does not see the Old Firm moving south to England to join the Premier League.

He told the Soccerex conference in Manchester: "I don't think they will move to the English Premier League. I think there will be two European leagues in 10 years' time or so and then Celtic and Rangers will be in it. That's the way I think it will go.

"It's not the SFA's opinion, it's my opinion - I think 38 (European) clubs will break away and make two divisions and the owners will do everything they can to get the sponsorship and TV money there.

"That's the way I think Celtic and Rangers will eventually go, and we have to make sure Scottish football is in a healthy position before we get to that point."

Strachan says his ambition is to produce Scottish football heroes again but admitted that the quality is not there yet.

He added: "I took this job because I want to do something to put something back. It's not a platform to do something else.

"I've been lucky and it's time to put something back, I'm trying to give heroes back to the Scottish people as there were when I was growing up. We don't have too many now.

"I want to bring through two or three young men who can be heroes in the future.

"We are getting better and even if it puts in a platform for someone to take over in years to come that would be great."

Strachan said he was prepared to take criticism to get his vision secured.

He said: "To get it right I may have to get a few slaps from the public or press and I have a vision of how I want to play but at the moment we don't have players with the intelligence or physique to do that. I'm hoping in the next four or five years we can get two or three."

Strachan said the Scotland job was "part-time in terms of hours but full-time in terms of stress" but that being manager of Celtic had prepared him for anything.

"My nerve endings have gone - once you are Celtic manager for four years you can do anything and even be Prime Minister after that job," he added.

Strachan will take his Scotland side to Wembley in August to face England as part of the FA's 150th anniversary celebrations and as someone who has previously spoken of being part of the infamous 1977 pitch invasion - after Scotland won 2-1 - he is relishing the prospect.

He said: "We have the players and the drive to be able to win so it's going to be a good game. All the players will be fresh - I played those games at the end of the season when it was exciting but it was a slog.

"We will be down with painted blue faces, kilts and everything.

"I had my honeymoon there in 1977 - I was there on the pitch and so was my wife.

"My best man and my wife were standing in the bar area when everyone was on the pitch and I thought I had better not join them as I was a professional footballer. But a policeman saw us and said 'what are you waiting for'.

"So we ended up on the pitch with the tartan scarves and a few years I later ended up playing there.

"I just wish it was every year, for charity or whatever, as I've no doubt every player, English of Scottish would want it. I played against Bryan Robson and Ray Wilkins and they loved it trying to put Scotland in our place."

SFA chief executive Stewart Regan said discussions about a possible re-match in Glasgow were taking place.

He said: "It's great that we have the opportunity to play this series of 'rivals matches' and England v Scotland is one of the biggest and the best.

"It's (a re-match) is part of ongoing discussions with the FA and I would like to think it could happen."

Meanwhile former Celtic striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink believes Neil Lennon has a footballer's "addiction" to winning that not even the absence of Rangers from the Clydesdale Bank Premier League can weaken.

Celtic's traditional rivals re-emerged in the Irn-Bru Third Division at the start of the season after their descent into administration and liquidation.

Without the usual championship challenge from Ibrox, Celtic have coasted through the league campaign with the occasional bump and are 15 points clear of Motherwell with five games remaining.

Lennon's side, who also reached the last 16 of the Champions League, are likely to clinch the title when they host Inverness in the first game of the post-split fixtures, and might even have claimed the trophy before then if the Steelmen slip up at Dundee United two days earlier.

Speaking in Glasgow ahead of Celtic's William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Dundee United on Sunday, Vennegoor of Hesselink, who won two SPL titles, a Scottish Cup and a League Cup in his three years at Parkhead between 2006 and 2009, spoke about his former team-mate Lennon's desire to win, regardless of circumstances.

"If you look how he (Lennon) did in the Champions League and in the league, he is doing his job really well," the former Holland international said. "Sometimes you have slip-ups but they are 15 points clear so that says enough.

"I know Lenny a little bit and he will want to win the cup and get the Double. As a footballer, there is a competitiveness, you want to win. It is like an addiction and if you win prizes you want to do it over and over. I think that is in the mind of Lenny and hopefully in the minds of a lot of players."

Vennegoor of Hesselink, however, admits the SPL table looks unrecognisable this season without Rangers and with Inverness and Ross County in the top six and Hibernian, Hearts and Aberdeen in the bottom six.

"I was reading the paper this morning and normally the table has Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Hibs and now it is the other way round," said the Dutchman who, since retiring as a player last year, has occupied himself with occasional scouting and media work.

"It is massive difference from only three or four years ago and also a bit of a shame because you want a good league with a lot of competitiveness.

"I was an analyst on the Celtic versus Inverness game in February and Inverness were pushing for second place. Celtic played their fringe players and Inverness were played off the park.

"That's not to talk badly about Inverness but it is a shame. As a footballer, you want to win it by a mile but sometimes it is also about the competitiveness, that is why fans come to the stadium.

"As a fan you always want to win but sometimes the nicest game is a last-minute winner so it is a shame that is not really there.

"The semi-final is really important because that is where they can get their satisfaction from too, getting the double and getting that on your CV.

"I played football for 18 years and I was quite lucky to win some prizes but only won two doubles in my career."

Vennegoor of Hesselink revealed his indelible Celtic links mean he has been quizzed about the demise of Rangers back in his homeland.

He said: "It is a big issue. People refer to me as a Celtic player, not a PSV or Twente player, so my time here had a big impact. They (people in Holland) know that Rangers went down and the Old Firm is a match that you miss.

"Everybody in Europe or maybe even the world talked about the derby and it's not there.

"I think it is painful because as a footballer you want those intensity games but it is not there and that is a shame."

Hamilton chairman Les Gray believes talks on league reconstruction are not over yet, insisting Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor is not the type of man to stand in the way of progress.

St Mirren chairman Stewart Gilmour has already confirmed his side will vote against plans for a new 12-12-18 set-up when the 12 Scottish Premier League clubs hold a ballot on Monday.

That has put intense pressure on Staggies chief MacGregor to put his own concerns about the proposals - which would also see the SPL merged with the Scottish Football League to form one body and a fairer financial distribution model introduced - to one side and back the plans.

With an 11-1 majority needed by the SPL to pass the scheme, County's vote now looks like it could be decisive but MacGregor will wait until Friday before making his mind up.

Gray, who claims Irn-Bru First Division clubs like his face extinction if change is not implemented next season, is hopeful MacGregor will not shoot down their survival hopes.

He said: "Until this vote actually takes place, there will be a lot of pontification and people talking a lot of nonsense to be honest.

"The bottom line is that I know Roy MacGregor pretty well and knowing the man the way I do, and I've known him for 15 years, he won't want to be the man that stops progress for Scottish football.

"He is in a really difficult position as a result of St Mirren coming out and making public what they intend to do.

"Roy will be thinking long and hard about that over the next few days and making a decision that could halt progress will weigh heavily on him.

"But he has made it clear to a lot of people that he has not made his mind up yet."